North Las Vegas boasts mobile windshield repair
Andy Woolford travels all over the valley to fix windshields.
The 50-year-old runs Awesome Windshield Repair, a North Las Vegas-based mobile business he created in 2006.
The idea was formed when Woolford and his wife, Esther, went on RV trips. He walked around the RV park and saw large camping vehicles with chipped and cracked windshields -- normal wear and tear from the highway.
He told the owners he could repair the damage for $50 and realized he could make a living from the work.
Awesome Windshield Repair was born.
Woolford fixes windshields on everything from smart cars to semis and RVs. His moving office "benefits customers because they don't lose time from work."
"For fleets it saves time and money," he said. "If a vehicle isn't on the road, it's not making money."
But rising fuel costs have presented challenges.
"Running all over town from Summerlin down to Henderson and anywhere in North Las Vegas, it takes a little bit for me to get there," Woolford said. "With traffic around here, you could sit for hours not being able to move, and you're just burning gas. My biggest problem is gas."
Replacement windshield costs depend on the size of the vehicle, but on average range anywhere from $200 to $275. Windshields that have built-in radio, rain or light sensors are more expensive to replace.
Many insurance companies will waive the deductible when the windshield is repaired rather than replaced.
Woolford said his greatest concern for his business is the environment.
"The old windshield goes in the trash, and nobody knows how long it will last in a landfill," he said. "If we can keep more windshields out of the landfill, that means there's more room for other things. It saves everybody money."
Stephen Miller is an economics professor who chairs the business college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Mobile businesses are a relatively new concept, and not much research has been conducted locally, he said.
Problems with sustainability could come from a reduction in capital investment because there is no rental space in a building. Mail delivery to the place of business might be difficult. And "with the services you're providing or good you're providing, is there something about the good or service that going to a person's place of business or house makes sense?" Miller added.
Woolford has his business mail sent to his personal home address. For his business, he said it makes sense to be mobile. For customers who have motor homes that need repairing, it saves time rather than cleaning the vehicle out and unhooking the load to take it to a shop, he added.
Contact North Las Vegas View reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@viewnews.com or 383-0492.
Other mobile businesses in your area
Angie Mccomb said her Classic Mobile Airbrush Tanning business is popular with the pageant set and people who book her for tanning parties, complete with hors d'uvres. Her clients include men, and 20 percent of her business comes from Summerlin. Prices start at $85. For more information, visit mobileairbrushtanning.com or call 335-2667.
ABC Auto Body LLC has been in the automobile repair business for 37 years and will come to your home for some repair work, such as fixing bumpers. For more information, visit abcautobodylv.com or call 248-7200.
Amazing Aquarium Services can be booked on a regular schedule to clean aquariums. For more information, call 885-3591.
A Advantage Appraisers comes to your home to determine the value of your vehicle. For more information, visit aadvantageappraisers.com.
Bistro Mobile, bistromobilelasvegas.com, provides personal chef-like meals straight to your doorstep. The culinary team creates a fresh and healthy menu each week and delivers the meals in a microwavable container. Several menu and delivery options are available.
A Cruzin' Clip has been in business for more than eight years. Owner/operator Brenda Varney's $75,000 van is a fully contained salon, where she clips, grooms and bathes dogs and cats. She tends to dogs under 40 pounds and cats, with 40 percent of the latter making up her business clientele. She visits three to five homes a day. For more information, visit acruzinclip.com or call 326-5357.
Advanced House Calls sends a doctor or physician's assistant to you. The on-staff doctor and three assistants go to assisted living facilities, group homes and individual's homes, where most patients are on Medicare. Those not on Medicare pay rates starting at $100. It utilizes other in-home medical businesses to provide lab and X-ray services. The latter uses a portable X-ray machine that can even go up apartment steps. Advanced House Calls specializes in geriatric medicine and deals with only adult patients. For more information, visit advancedhousecalls.com or call 838-7110.
Ray Rand has worked on computers as an independent contractor for 20 years, but it was only last year that he set up his own business, Ray's Mobile On-Site Computer Repair & Cleaning. Rand maintains several websites for companies, with 50 percent of his business being commercial clients. He goes to people's homes two to five times a week on an as-needed basis to get their computers in top operating shape. For more information, visit rayrandenterprises.com or call 542-6109.
Don Hess owns and operates ABC Auto Body LLC and has been in the automobile repair business for 37 years. He has a mobile repair work component. Most of it is fixing bumpers, either from shopping cart damage or less-than-attentive drivers.
Using electric tools and a small compressor that's closed up inside the van to minimize noise, the disturbance to the neighborhood is kept down, and repairs take less than an hour, Hess said.
For more information, visit abcautobodylv.com or call 248-7200.
Holly and Chris Kelley's business, Amazing Aquarium Services, can be booked on a regular schedule to clean aquariums. They have 65 clients across the valley.
For more information, call 885-3591.